Ball Four; The Final Pitch

North Egremont, MA: Bulldog Publishing, 2000. Revised Edition [stated]. Later printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Format is approximately 7.25 inches by 10.25 inches. xvi, 528, followed by 16 pages of photographs. Inscribed by the author on the fep. Inscription reads For Rick--Best Wishes Jim Bouton 5/2002. Signed by the author on the second fep. With a New Epilogue by the Author. This is a New York Public Library Books of the Century selection. The Preface was written in 1980 and updated in 1990 and 2000. Editor's Foreword; Introduction; Part 1: The Made Me What I Am Today; Part 2: "My Arm isn't Sore, Its Just A Little Stiff"; Part 3: And Then I Died; Part 4: I Always Wanted to See Hawaii; Part 5: The Yanks Are Coming, The Yanks Are Coming; Part 6: Shut Up; Part 7: Honey, Meet Me in Houston; Statistics; Ball Five--Ten Years Later; Ball Six--Twenty Years Later; Ball Seven--Thirty Years Later; Addendum, Acknowledgments; About the Editor; Other Books by the Author. Index. Ball Four is a baseball classic, a number one bestseller when it was published; it still is in demand throughout the U.S. Now in a new updated hardcover edition, Ball Four will reach a whole new generation of avid baseball fans. In fact, Ball Four has been selected by the NY Public Library as one of the Books of the Century [the only 'sports' book to make it onto the list]. And David Halberstam writes: a book deep in the American Vein, so deep in fact that is by no means a sports book. Bouton has written a baseball book about the reality of the game. Thirty years after its publication, it remains as wonderful to read as ever. James Alan Bouton (March 8, 1939 - July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 1962 and 1978. He was also a best-selling author, actor, activist, sportscaster and one of the creators of Big League Chew. Bouton was a member of the 1962 World Series champions, appeared in the 1963 MLB All-Star Game, and won both of his starts in the 1964 World Series. Later in his career, he developed and threw a knuckleball. Bouton authored the 1970 baseball book Ball Four, which was a combination diary of his 1969 season and memoir of his years with the Yankees, Pilots, and Astros. Around 1968, sportswriter Leonard Shecter, who had befriended Bouton during his time with the Yankees, approached him with the idea of writing a season-long diary. Bouton agreed; he had taken some notes during the 1968 season with a similar goal. The diary that became Ball Four chronicled Bouton's experiences the next year with the Pilots. The diary also followed Bouton during his two-week stint with the triple-A Vancouver Mounties in April, and after his trade to the Houston Astros in late August. Ball Four was not the first baseball diary, but it became more widely known and discussed than its predecessors. The book was a frank, insider's look at professional sports teams, covering the off-the-field side of baseball life, including petty jealousies, obscene jokes, drunken tomcatting of the players, and routine drug use, including by Bouton himself. Upon its publication, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn called Ball Four "detrimental to baseball", and tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying that the book was completely fictional. Bouton, however, refused to deny any of Ball Four's revelations. Some teammates never forgave him for disclosing information given to him in confidence, and naming names. The book made Bouton unpopular with many players, coaches, and officials on other teams as well; he was informally blacklisted from baseball. Bouton's writings about Mickey Mantle's lifestyle were most notorious, though they comprise few pages of Ball Four and much of the material was complimentary. For example, when Bouton got his first shutout win as a Yankee, he describes Mantle laying a "red carpet" of white towels leading directly to Bouton's locker in his honor. The controversy and book sales enabled Bouton to write a sequel, I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally, in which he discussed both the controversies and reactions to Ball Four, and the end of his original pitching career and his transition to becoming a New York sportscaster. He updated the original book with a new extended postscript that provided a ten-year update, dubbed Ball Five. In 1978, Ted Turner signed Bouton to a contract with the Atlanta Braves. He was called up to join Atlanta's rotation in September, and compiled a 1-3 record in five starts. Bouton added Ball Six, updating the stories of the players in Ball Four, for the 20th anniversary edition. All were included (in 2000) as Ball Four: The Final Pitch, along with a new coda that detailed the death of his daughter and his reconciliation with the Yankees.